The Patriots Offensive System: Erhardt-Perkins

[NE-VT]

I feel the Patriots innovative and mutable offense during Belichick's tenure is deeply tied to the Erhardt-Perkins offensive system. You can read more about this EP system in this article.

Speak My Language

The tldr: The Patriots use a simplified terminology for their route calling. This allows them to go no huddle with efficiency, as well as run the same plays out of different formations. The majority of the NFL does not run this system.

So while this thread might get technical at times, I also want to make sure it is generally accessible for all. Below I posted some questions, that might help facilitate discussion. Don't feel obligated to get into the exact details of how the system works to comment! Questions about the Patriots system, or offensive systems in general are encouraged. I also included a few Bill O'Brien videos below incase folks enjoyed that format.

You can see examples of Patriots play calls here:

Tom Brady's play-call wristband is proof NFL QBs have the hardest job in sports

While they do get somewhat linguistically complicated, none of them approach the level of complexity of an Andy Reid play call:

"shift to halfback twin right open, swap 72 all-go special halfback shallow cross wide open"

 

[luuked]

I feel the Patriots innovative and mutable offense during Belichick's tenure is deeply tied to the Erhardt-Perkins offensive system.

What do you mean you feel ? It is essentially EP and there has been numerous good articles about it. I think most posters here have read that Grantland article already a few times.

Also I wouldnt assume that just because BoB is the coach in Houston that the Texans sharing anything with our offense except for the same core plays that every NFL team runs.

 

[NE-VT]

EDIT: This post compares Patriots and Texans systems. O'Brien is currently the head coach of the Texans, and was a former Patriots offensive coordinator. It might be better to skip this section if this is not of particular interest.

History of Texans EP

Now one of the obvious differences between the Patriots and O'Brien’s Texans over the last 4 years has been the level of QB play. Until recently, it appears O'Brien could not find a QB that could run the offense at a high level. Hoyer had some decent success, but was run out of town a bit due to a horrible playoff game.

Watson as a Prospect

So now lets consider Deshaun Watson, the Texans rookie QB. Watson ran a no-huddle system at Clemson. Many NFL insiders don't consider these college no-huddle systems to prepared to be NFL QBs. Yet, there are similarities to these college systems and Erhardt-Perkins.

Take a look at Watson explaining a Clemson play to Gruden. It starts at the 6:37 mark.



The call is “Empty Will Rope Crush”

Clemson is naming their plays using route concepts. The Texans scheme might not have seemed so foreign to him. Perhaps this is why the Texans wanted to take a chance on him, and why he could take over the offense so quickly.

Compare this to the more traditional play calls that Gruden wanted Watson to try later in the vid. Take a look at 10:51:

“Trips right 361 y-stick x-individual”.

This is the language that most teams use, in which each receivers route is completely specified in the play call. This system was very foreign to Watson, at least at the time of the Gruden QB camp.

How O'Brien used EP with Watson

I think O'Brien's offense with Watson as QB really highlights the systems flexibility. Watson only had his first start in week 2, and by week 3 vs. the Patriots O'Brien had adjusted EP to Watson's strengths. He put Watson in many shot-gun looks with 4 wide and one RB. This allowed Watson to always be threatening a zone read option from shotgun, while still using normal passing concepts. A huge majority of their plays just build in a RPO. It was fun to see and I hope he can come back strong.

It would be fun to try to look back at Watson's film and identify Patriots route concepts.

 

[NE-VT]

What do you mean you feel ?

I did not want to overstate my confidence in this. One could argue that the Patriots ability to change game-plans is simply due to their level coaching and/or Brady's intelligence. Perhaps the terminology they use is largely independent of their success. I think that understanding EP is critical, but I wanted to start with a softer statement.

I think most posters here have read that Grantland article already a few times.

If this article is familiar to everyone and not needed, sorry for posting it. I wanted to make sure we all had a common framework to start the discussion. If you know it already, just skip it.

Also I wouldnt assume that just because BoB is the coach in Houston that the Texans sharing anything with our offense except for the same core plays that every NFL team runs.

BOB presented at coaching workshops where he presents EP. I have read multiple articles that state him as using it. I agree it is possible that he dropped it, but it is way more likely that the Texans are an EP team.

 

[NE-VT]

So I decided to bump this thread, because it is my favorite topic in football. I am hoping that it would not be too off-topic to both discuss our EP system, but also compare it to the other systems in the NFL.

On passing plays, most NFL systems specify each individual route for each particular receiver. This allows the receiver to know exactly what to do just from the play call, but means that the play calls are incredibly long.

EP puts more of a burden on the receivers. Instead of specifying route by route, it uses multiple-receiver route concepts. If look at the picture below you can see an example of the EP method. The top-left play is "3 out slot hat - 73 ghost tosser". Lets break that down piece by piece (I have a partial copy of the Pats 2004 playbook I found online)



"3 out slot hat - 73 ghost tosser"

"3 out slot": the initial formation
"(H)at": tells the "H" player to move to the TE side from a backfield set
"73": sets the protection, and strong side. 72 & 73 are both for empty protects with 5 skill players in routes.
"ghost": ghost is a three-receiver route concept. it tells the outside to run a fade, the middle route is an out, and the inside to run a flat route.
"tosser": tosser is the two-receiver route, in which the inside runs a slant, and the outside runs a deeper slant / shallow-post.

-----

I will describe that same play as in a fake "West Coast" system. I am going to leave the EP terminology for the formation, protection, and pre-snap motion. I believe these would also vary, and might be longer in a West Coast system. Despite that, the key difference is the West Coast system will specify each route individually. The play call becomes:

"3 out slot hat - 73 X Deep Slant, Y out, Z Slant, H Flat, F fade"

Again, the key is that each individual route is specified. The receiver knows exactly what to do in isolation, but is not invited to think about the play as a wholistic picture.

This is merely an example, and I don't think I translated it perfectly, and left a good portion of it in EP language. I also have a copy of the old West Coast playbook. If someone finds a West Coast play call, we can try to break it down piece by piece in the same way.

I say try, because I am not sure how to make sense of Reid's play call:

"shift to halfback twin right open, swap 72 all-go special halfback shallow cross wide open"

 

[NE-VT]

So while I am happy to dive into the nitty gritty of the system, I also want to have some more general question for discussion:

1. Besides the Pats and the Texans, I believe the following teams still use EP: Panthers, Dolphins, and Steelers (there may be more). Can we notice any similarities in the offensive styles of these teams? How tightly related is play calling scheme in game-planning strategy?

2. I have elsewhere implied that college no-huddle teams are closer to an EP system than a "west coast" system. Is this true? How does calling plays from the sideline impact play calling?

3. EP claims to pack more information per phrase compared to the other 2 NFL systems. How does this impact audibles? Does it make things easier in hurry-up offense?

4. I have previously claimed that EP allows for offensive flexibility. I can think of a recent example of a non-ep team manipulating match-ups in the way I described in the "fire-ob" thread (hint: a NFC playoff contender). Is the level of offensive flexibility more a function of OC game-planning skill?

5. Does EP help the Patriots FO strategy? Are they searching for different skills than other teams?

6. Lombardi often talks about "attacking the defensive adjustment". Does a route concept system like EP help us do that?

7. Does Brady's skills translate better into a EP system? How would Brady have performed under Reid, Harbaugh, Kubiak, or McCarthy? How would other good to great QBs of Brady's generation functioned in our EP offense?

 

[NE-VT]

Here are a coupe of clips of Bill O'Brien breaking down Patriots play calls from empty sets:



On this second one, O'Brien discusses how we go no-huddle with these plays, gives examples of QB adjustments and audibles, and also makes fun of the Jets. How much better could it get?

 

[maineman209]

This is great stuff! Thanks!

 

[luuked]

EP claims to pack more information per phrase compared to the other 2 NFL systems. How does this impact audibles? Does it make things easier in hurry-up offense?

Pretty much. I think the original Grantland article that has been going through this (and other boards) repeatedly and that you posted in the very first post convincingly answers that with a resounding yes. Of course it all assumes that the players can grasp the offense. And that really is the crux of it.

Players that just had issues with our offense were not dumb people but after spending half of their life playing football using a different terminology just had trouble adjusting to this language.

Besides the Pats and the Texans, I believe the following teams still use EP: Panthers, Dolphins, and Steelers (there may be more). Can we notice any similarities in the offensive styles of these teams?

Does Brady's skills translate better into a EP system? How would Brady have performed under Reid, Harbaugh, Kubiak, or McCarthy? How would other good to great QBs of Brady's generation functioned in our EP offense?

Installing EP is different than being able to leverage it fully. It is not a magic system that makes things better for everyone. But if you have a QB like Brady who can read coverages and understand matchups like nobody else it becomes a terrifying weapon. This is also one of the reasons why in every of those threads about trading Brady I repeated again and again that there are not many places you can send a 40 year old QB that played his entire pro life in EP and expect him to have instant success. At this point I consider EP almost more than just a terminology but a way to build an entire offense because it demands more understanding than crazy athletic ability.

 

[luuked]

5. Does EP help the Patriots FO strategy? Are they searching for different skills than other teams?

I would say it is a blessing and a curse at the same time but the advantages far outweigh the downsides.

You are still victim to the same unpredictability of player projection. There is no way around that. But that unpredictability is based on slightly different factors than most other teams prioritize so you can leverage inefficiencies (from your own pov) in the draft/cap market. It used to be slot receivers but now it is almost more about flexbacks.

Also and maybe more importantly you have a pretty good vision and direction of what you want to have on your team for it to work. Which means you and your front office can draw up archetypes that you are looking for easier.

 

[NE-VT]

Pretty much. I think the original Grantland article that has been going through this (and other boards) repeatedly and that you posted in the very first post convincingly answers that with a resounding yes.

I agree with the Grantland take, but I am going to play devils advocate. I still think you could accomplish these some of these same things in a non-ep system:

Brissett was given an armband with numbered plays on it when he started with the Colts, a non-ep team. This allowed the OC to specify a play and an audible to Brissett with very few words "26 kill 15" (run play #26, have team ready for play 15 as an audible). Gruden gives an example of what this would sound like in the huddle in his Watson QB camp.

Once you start numbering plays like this, it seems plausible that you could ask the entire team to memorize the numbers. Rather than asking Brissett to read the play entire play-call in non-ep language in the huddle, he just says "26 kill 15". This might allow teams to go just as fast without needing an EP language.

The problem I see with it: if you are going to start asking players to memorize plays, it might just be better to have them memorize the route concepts. "ghost tosser" is just about as short as "26".

 

[luuked]

The problem I see with it: if you are going to start asking players to memorize plays, it might just be better to have them memorize the route concepts. "ghost tosser" is just about as short as "26".

I dont know the scientific background on it but I would claim that for the majority of people it is easier to remember things based off a name or an image than from a number. Especially once you get into the 20-30s of numbers to keep in mind. I feel like numbers are just too abstract.

Also like you said there are diminishing returns in terms of conciseness + the chance of mishearing a number in a loud environment is bigger than mishearing concept names which are most probably carefully chosen to be somewhat as distinct as possible from each other.

 

[luuked]

EP claims to pack more information per phrase compared to the other 2 NFL systems. How does this impact audibles? Does it make things easier in hurry-up offense?

Also, since we are talking about it you made me recall an older Bedard article in the Globe about how one of the Chip Kelly visits to NE facilitated them to compress down their no huddle calls into single words:

Kelly told the Patriots he was moving to a no-huddle that only used one word to signify everything involved in a play.

Sideline calls take too long. Wristbands too.

One word is all that is needed.

The Patriots operate their no-huddle attack most often using one word as the play call.

More accurately, they use six one-word play calls a game.

That word tells all 11 players on offense everything they need to know.

Formation.

Blocking scheme.

Direction on run plays.

Routes for receiver on passing plays.

Shifts in formations.

Snap count.

Possible alerts and play alterations.

One word.

Patriots no-huddle relies on power of one - The Boston Globe

I think in limited scenarios it can make sense to condense it down even further - especially no huddle execution. But generally like I said there are diminishing returns to trying to cut down on words once you are using EP.

 

[NE-VT]

I dont know the scientific background on it but I would claim that for the majority of people it is easier to remember things based off a name or an image than from a number. Especially once you get into the 20-30s of numbers to keep in mind. I feel like numbers are just too abstract.

Also like you said there are diminishing returns in terms of conciseness + the chance of mishearing a number in a loud environment is bigger than mishearing concept names which are most probably carefully chosen to be somewhat as distinct as possible from each other.

I agree with all of that. It also reminds me of what OD said in second video. For the purposes of speed you might just abbreviate the entire play call "blah blah ... Hoss-Y Juke" as "Juke" (assuming that is the only Juke route in the game plan).

This seems to play off of how memories are stored, as you suggest. If you think the defense knows what your "Juke" route is, you could change it with "Barry" (as in Barry Sanders). I recall that Brady called a audible "Jordan" in the last AFCG. I wonder if that was a reference to an abbreviated play name. It would make sense from a memory perspective.

 

[DarrylS]

Nice to see a thread that makes you think and learn something...

Will probably forget it by noon though..

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Nice to see a thread that makes you think and learn something...

Will probably forget it by noon though..

I need a dummies book...

 

[Tony2046]

@NE-VT - I can't believe I missed this thread originally. Great stuff.

Ran into this HS coach explaining how he teaches the EP concept to his players.

For me it was a great way to have someone explain it using visuals..

I'm currently reading a Pat Kirwan book "Take your eye off the ball" but he is basically talking about basic schemes and not so much terminology. Good book nonetheless.

 

[Tony2046]

I need a dummies book...

Same here.. Just posted a HS coach explanation video above. Watch through to the end and it starts making sense.

 

[FCB02062]

Ice cream headache city....

 

[Tony2046]

Here are a coupe of clips of Bill O'Brien breaking down Patriots play calls from empty sets:



On this second one, O'Brien discusses how we go no-huddle with these plays, gives examples of QB adjustments and audibles, and also makes fun of the Jets. How much better could it get?

OT" In the second video Bob rips a Jets defensive scheme. "This dude is trying to cover this guy from 10 yards out..... That's just ridiculous......Well that's why they're the Jets and we're the Patriots" hahaha